Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared is a media company that organizes live debates and other cultural events around the world.^[2] It was founded in 2002 in London,^[3] where its head office is based, and has affiliates in the US, Australia, and Hong Kong. The debates are held in the traditional Oxford style in front of a live audience. The company produces video and podcast programs, publishing on YouTube, and other platforms.^[4] Intelligence Squared is often referred to as Intelligence² and IQ2.^[2]

Intelligence Squared

Founded	2002; 22 years ago (2002)
Headquarters	Notting Hill, West London
No. of locations	London New York City Sydney Athens Hong Kong Tel Aviv Santiago
Founder(s)	Jeremy O'Grady John Gordon
CEO	Matt McAllester^[1]
URL	www.intelligencesquared.com

History

Intelligence Squared was founded by two media entrepreneurs, Jeremy O'Grady and John Gordon, in 2002.^[3] In 2012, the company was bought by art consultant Amelie von Wedel, Yana Peel (CEO of Serpentine Galleries), and David Legg (Commonwealth Bank of Australia Executive General Manager).^[5] Hannah Kaye has been executive producer since 2006,^[6] and Matt McAllester became managing director in 2018.^[5] In addition to debates, Intelligence Squared also hosts interviews, discussions, and panels with such figures as President Jimmy Carter, Eric Schmidt, Sheryl Sandberg, Malala Yousafzai, Patti Smith, and Werner Herzog.^[7]

Intelligence Squared licensed the rights to the brand for global expansion and Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates was established in 2006 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit media group by financier and philanthropist Robert Rosenkranz.^[8][9][10] The organization's mission is stated as being to "restore critical thinking, facts, reason, and civility to American public discourse."^[11]

Other Intelligence Squared licensees operate in Sydney (since 2008) and Hong Kong (since 2009).^[12][13] The company has also had partnerships in Kyiv (2008 – 2014), Athens (2010), Israel (2013), and Chile (2014).^{[citation needed]} IQ2 debates in Australia are hosted by The Ethics Centre in Sydney.^[12]

Debate format

Intelligence Squared uses the traditional Oxford-Style debate format^[14] inspired by the Oxford Union. A motion is proposed, with two speakers arguing in favour and two against. Opening remarks are around 10 minutes in length. This is followed by questions and answers from the live audience, a lively dialogue between the speakers, and short closing remarks by each debater in turn.^[14] The audience is polled on their opinion both before and after the debate and the winning side is determined by the side which changed the most minds.

Another format they produce are "Cultural Combat" debates, in which two cultural figures are pitted against each other. These began in 2013 with "Verdi vs. Wagner", which was staged at London’s Royal Opera House with a sixty-piece live orchestra, Stephen Fry in the chair, and John Tomlinson singing Wotan.^[15][16]

Debate topics include foreign policy, religion, history, social policy, politics, economics, science, technology, art, culture, and the environment.^[17][18]

Intelligence Squared U.S.

Main article: Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates

Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates was established in the United States in 2006 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution with a mission to "raise the level of public discourse" in America.^[19] An award-winning^[11] national radio program,^[20] podcast,^[21] television show, and digital platform, Intelligence Squared U.S. has produced more than 200 live debates since 2006 and made history by hosting the first debate ever between an artificial intelligence and a human being, in partnership with IBM's "Project Debater”.^[22] Intelligence Squared U.S. is often referred to as IQ2US.^[11]

Intelligence Squared U.S. episodes have been broadcast on NPR since 2007,^[23] in addition to Bloomberg Television,^[24][25] BBC,^[26] PBS,^[27] Newsy,^[28] C-SPAN,^[29] and education streaming platform Wondrium.^[30]

Podcast and video

All Intelligence Squared events are recorded and released on the company’s YouTube channel^[31] and as part of a weekly podcast series.^[32] The company also records podcasts with authors and other intellectuals.^[33]

Television

Intelligence Squared debates have also been broadcast globally on BBC World.^[34]

Partnerships

Intelligence Squared has partnered with The New York Times,^[35] Google,^[36] and Vanity Fair.^[37]

The first Intelligence Squared and Google VERSUS debate series held its first debate, titled "It's Time to End the War on Drugs", on 13 March 2012.^[38] Intelligence Squared has also staged events in partnership with Shell^[36] on topics related to climate change and sustainable energy use. Other partnerships include The National Trust, Wellington College, Abbey Road Studios, Baker McKenzie in New York City, Investec, Christie's, the World Health Organization in New York, the United Nations in Geneva, and the University of Chicago.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. . IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
2. . IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010.
3. Acherson, Neal (March 28, 2004). . The Observer. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
4. . IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
5. . Find and update company information. Companies House. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
6. . IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
7. . IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
8. . The Rosenkranz Foundation. 14 February 2007. Archived from the original on 9 June 2015.
9. Konigsberg, Eric (June 2, 2007). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022.
10. Jensen, Elizabeth (20 September 2009). . The New York Times. p. B5. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
11. . Intelligence Squared U.S. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
12. . The Ethics Centre. 28 August 2018. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
13. (Press release). Hong Kong: Phillips. 3 May 2012. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
14. . Intelligence Squared. 12 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022 – via YouTube.
15. Service, Tom (12 September 2013). . The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022.
16. Intelligence Squared [@intelligence2] (August 17, 2016). (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via Twitter.
17. . Intelligence Squared. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022.
18. . Intelligence Squared U.S. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
19. . Intelligence Squared U.S. 2022. Archived from the original on 15 January 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
20. . NPR. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022.
21. . Apple Podcasts. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
22. Amer, Pakinam (17 March 2021). . Scientific American. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
23. . NPR. 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
24. . GlobeNewswire. February 16, 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
25. . IBM Newsroom. September 18, 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020.
26. . BBC. January 19, 2009. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
27. . WTTW PBS Station. January 20, 2013. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013.
28. . Newsy. October 15, 2017. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
29. . C-SPAN. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022.
30. . Wondrium. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
31. . YouTube. Intelligence Squared. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022.
32. . Intelligence Squared. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
33. . Apple Podcasts. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
34. . BBC. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
35. . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
36. . Intelligence Squared. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
37. . Shoreditch Town Hall. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021.
38. Versus War on Drugs Debate. Intelligence Squared. 14 March 2012 – via YouTube.

External links

• Official website
• Intelligence Squared on YouTube
• Intelligence Squared U.S. Website